Sea of Swords (Forgotten Realms: Paths of Darkness) (Mass Market Paperback)

~ R. A. Salvatore (Author) "It is good to be home..." (more)
Key Phrases: yer hammer, polar worm, fool elf, Sheila Kree, Sea Sprite, Drizzt Do'Urden (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Elf ranger Drizzt Do'Urden and his gifted warriors go in search of a missing member of their own band in this latest fast-moving fantasy adventure from bestseller Salvatore (Servant of the Shard, etc.). In the previous episode of the Paths of Darkness series (of the Forgotten Realms umbrella series), Wulfgar the barbarian fought a demon, was possessed and supposedly killed. Now it turns out that not only is he alive but he is in need of the type of assistance at which his friends excel. Getting to Wulfgar and aiding him in his quest for Aegis-fang, his warhammer, is only part of the fun. Drizzt Do'Urden, along with Cattie-Brie, a dwarf named Bruenor Battlehammer and Regis the Halfling, often have to battle the obligatory orcs, goblins and ogres on their way to the real business at hand. A second plot involves the stalking of Drizzt Do'Urden by Le'Lorinel, a Moon elf (or pale elf, whereas Drizzt is a Drow or dark elf). The author combines some of the good versus evil of Robin Hood and his merry men, the campy heroics and friendship of The Princess Bride (including an appearance of dread pirate Sheila Kree) and a rather unfulfilled stab at race relations with Le'Lorinel's unhinged hatred for Drizzt Do'Urden. As this is the fourth novel in the subseries of a larger series, it is not for the uninitiated. Long-awaited by Salvatore's legions of fans, however, this book is as certain as its predecessors to climb bestseller charts. 10-city author tour.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

The paperback version of a top- selling hardcover featuring the return of R. A. Salvatores most popular character, Drizzt DoUrden. The wildly popular signature character of R. A. Salvatore makes his first appearance in three years. The story reunites all the main characters of the series and promises the excitement Salvatores fans have been waiting for. R. A. Salvatore was born in Massachusetts in 1959 and still makes his home there. He has published numerous Forgotten Realms novels with Wizards of the Coast, Inc., including the recent New York Times bestsellers The Silent Blade, The Spine of the World, and Servant of the Shard.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast; 1st THUS edition (August 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786927720
• ISBN-13: 978-0786927722
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (107 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #510,218 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good read, Not Salvatore's Best, November 5, 2001

By	Kate (Annapolis, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sea of Swords (Forgotten Realms: Paths of Darkness) (Hardcover)

Salvatore brings back everyone's favorite Dark Elf for another installment of the Paths of Darkness series. The book itself was a fast read, as are most of Salvatore's works, but it left me wanting a bit.

To his credit, the author resolved and wrapped up many hanging treads left throughout the series.
The characterization of the pirates was wonderful, but the opponent Salvatore lined up for Drizzt came of as a shadow of Entrari. I felt that he could have completely left this character out or developed someone within the pirate crew to cover the need for a dramatic closing fight (Salvatore's greatest strength).

If Salvatore continues to write books with the Heroes of Mithiril Hall (which I pray he does), I look forward to seeing who or what he comes up with to challenge the party.

Bottom Line: A good book, and worth the wait. Even Salvatore's B work is better than 90% of the rambling epics on the fantasy market.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hmmmm..., January 14, 2002

By	Caleb Jones (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Sea of Swords (Forgotten Realms: Paths of Darkness) (Hardcover)

In reading this book, it looks like we're beginning to have a problem here. While it is apparent that Salvatore loves his characters, I got the distinct impression while reading this book that he would have rather been writing something else. Salvatore is falling into the category of the famous writer that has been typecast and is desparately wanting to do something different, but people are simply waving too much money under his nose to write more Drizzt novels. Sea of Swords is a book filled with over-dramatization, repeated phrases from his other books, and way too many adjectives. But that's not the problem. The problem is that Salvatore is better than this; he *knows* better than that. It's like before he wrote the book, he sat down and said "Well, a bunch of teenagers are going to read this, the not civilized adults who read my Demonwars novels, so I'd better write to the audience." Oh boy. The slow demise of Drizzt may have just begun. My advice to Mr. Salvatore: You were an excellent writer, and you still are. Follow your passion. If you want to dump Drizzt, then dump him. If you still want to make a lot of money writing TSR novels, fine. Write about Jarlaxle and Entreri. Use the second half of "Servant of the Shard" as a guide. You'll have fun, it'll be a *great* book instead of a *barely good* book like this one, people will buy it (I know I will), and you'll still make money. I would much, much rather read about Jarlaxle and Entreri than about a drow hero who is getting tired of himself, and whose very author is getting tired of him.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Drizzt Lite, November 10, 2001

By	D. Head "Dan Head" (Stratford, CT) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Sea of Swords (Forgotten Realms: Paths of Darkness) (Hardcover)

First off, let me say that I enjoyed reading this book a lot. I read it cover-to-cover yesterday and do not consider it to have been a day wasted. I read fantasy books because they are light fare, an easy break from the day-to-day stresses of the working world, and I read Salvatore's fantasy because it is exciting and well written. From that perspective, this book was absolutely terrific: a return of fantasy's most consistently exciting character without the "end of the world" motif that is such a common and overwhelming theme in the genre. It is very solid Drizzt fare.
Having said that, this book is not as good as the Crystal Shard. Shard contained a level of suspense and moral ambiguity that is missing here. The problem is common enough in any Wizards of the Coast setting (and can indeed be found in some of their computer games as well): as the characters advance in level and/or power, nothing in the story can really injure or threaten them. The protagonist becomes superhero - far outstripping his foes in both physical and mental prowess. This is problematic in a linear plot. Servant of the Shard was SO GOOD because it avoided this issue by presenting a vast set of interweaving difficulties and complex situations. In other words, the story could have logically ended in any number of different ways. Sea of Swords misses that critical element that Salvatore always has in his books that contain Jarlaxle: complexity.
I enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to Drizzt fans. It advances the characters emotionally, contains solid sarcastic wit in several places, and it is action-packed without having the action overwhelm. However, I also eagerly await the return of Entreri and Jarlaxe.